KUNMING, March 3 (Xinhua) -- China's social endowment insurance for rural and urban residents has covered over 523 million people by the end of 2018, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS).

Over 49 million people in poverty have benefited from the insurance program directly, MOHRSS data showed.

The unemployment insurance premium has allocated 1.82 billion yuan (about 272 million U.S. dollars) of living subsidies to 402,000 migrant workers who had lost their jobs, the ministry said.

The social endowment insurance program covers groups including the self-employed, rural migrant workers and farmers, providing pensions for their retirement.

China faces the challenge of building a more sustainable pension system as its population ages.

By 2018, China had 249 million people aged 60 and above, accounting for 17.9 percent of its total population, becoming a country with the largest and fastest-growing aged population in the world.